After the call for boycott of global brands started last year, many have opted to purchase from local brands or dine at local food franchises. Speaking of local brands and dining in, did you know that the Manhattan FISH MARKET is actually a Malaysian franchise? Despite the “Manhattan” in the name, the restaurant first opened in Mid Valley Megamall.
So how about we get to learn more about this company? That’s right. Strap yourselves in cause it’s time for another origin story of how Manhattan FISH MARKET became the well-beloved dining experience in Malaysia.
Before it was renamed The Manhattan FISH MARKET, the restaurant was simply known as The Fish Shop. Not the most appealing of names, but as they say, everyone has to start somewhere. The eatery was founded by three friends: George Ang, Dickson Low, and Jeffrey Goh. In an interview with iFranchiseMalaysia, the trio revealed that they started the company due to a lack of quick-service restaurants serving fish-based dishes in Malaysia.
“We came up with the idea of opening a casual dining restaurant to cater for this niche market. Operating a restaurant business was completely new to us. We thought why not and had a go!” said George. Although they were newcomers to the food and beverage industry, they still took that risk and secured a loan to open the restaurant. The business partners invested about RM60,000 to open up their first outlet at Mid Valley Megamall in 2002. Of course, securing that loan wasn’t easy as they had a lot of convincing to do since they were first-time entrepreneurs.
In the beginning, the three friends handled everything themselves; from delivery to cooking to cleaning to experimenting with the menus, to touching up the decoration and so forth. It was definitely not a three-person job and it was through these trials and errors that they were able to establish a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for their business. They initially didn’t have plans to start a franchise but as the business grew, the owners decided to open up a second outlet in Subang Jaya.
Although the company had a promising start, the success was unfortunately short-lived. Over time, The Fish Shop didn’t have as much support from Malaysia as it once did. Most would have given up at this point, feeling they had too much to lose. However, rather than closing up the business for good, the founders were determined to find a solution and thus rebrand the restaurant to what is now known as Manhattan FISH MARKET. Of course, this meant that they had to change their strategy from being a quick-service restaurant to a more elevated dining experience.
According to an interview with Options, the decision has led to an increase in the business’ revenues and allowed the founders to expand their brand. Eventually, the trio managed to take over the liabilities of other The Fish Shop franchise holders and convert them to The Manhattan FISH MARKET. This allowed them to proceed with their franchising plans. After years of resilience and hard work, the brand now boasts over 20 restaurants nationwide, along with several locations in countries such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Jordan, and the Maldives.
While all of this was happening, the three friends also established the parent company, Revenue Valley Group, which now owns and operates more than 100 restaurants across 13 countries in Asia. You may have heard of some of the other internationally renowned restaurants under this company, such as Tony Roma’s and New York Steak Shack. Additionally, Revenue Valley Group is behind local brands like Daporlah and the now-closed Nice Catch Malaysia. While many restaurants tend to cater to a younger audience, observations from Vulcan Post indicate that the primary customers of The Manhattan FISH MARKET are mostly more mature.
This is not necessarily a bad thing and the restaurant chain has been keeping up with the latest trends, especially with their social media promo posts. As far as we know, the business is still doing pretty well and the outlet in Mid Valley is still running after 22 years and we hope that the company continues to improve and thrive in the future.
Sources: ManhattanFishMarket, VulcanPost, TheFranchiseTalk, iFranchiseMalaysia, Options
